Bank vault door and frame



Nov. 15, 1949 1.. M. MASSIE 2,488,063

BANK VAULT DOOR AND FRAME Filed Dec. 27, 1945 5 Sheets-Sheet l llll Nov. 15, 1949 1.. M. MASSIE BANK VAULT DOOR AND FRAME 3. Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Dec. 27, 1.945

Nov. 15, 1949 L M. MASSLE 2,488,063

7 BANK VAULT DOOR AND FRAME Filed Dec. 27, 1945 3 Sheets-Sheet 5 Patented Nov. 15, 1949 .UNITED STATES ATEN o IcE BANK vAUL'r DQORJAND FRAME Loyal M. Massie, Hamilton, Ohio Application December 27, 1945 Serial No. 637,326

with the pressure bar system and hinges'now.

employed; I

Another objectof the invention is to provide 'a door which is supported on rollers to move easily, and provided with means for releasing thelatch bolts thereof and for sliding the door to an open or closed position by "means of a motor controlled by a switch to be readily operated and thereby avoid manually moving heavy bank doors.

Another object of the invention is to provide a door which is extremely safe against unwarranted entry into a vault or the like, and which is provided with means for guiding the same in its movements."

Another object of the invention is to provide guides for the door which also provide a rack adapted to be moved back and forth for opening and closing the door in connection with a power driven gear to open and close the door-silently and efficiently.

Other objects and advantages reside in the details of construction and operation as more fully hereinafter described and claimed, reference being had to the accompanying drawings-forming part hereof, wherein like numerals refer to like parts throughout, and in which:

-- Figure 1 is a front elevation of a vault equipped with a door and frame in accordance withthe invention.

' Figure 2 is a vertical sectional view taken on the line 2--2 of Figure 3.

Figure 3 is an enlarged vertical sectional View taken on the line 33 of Figure 2.

Figure 4 is a fragmentary horizontal sectional View enlarged, taken on the line 4-4 of Figure 2.

Figure 5 is a vertical sectional view taken on the line 5-5of Figure 2. r

Figure 6 is a horizontal'fragmentary sectional view taken on the line 66 of Figure 2. 1

. Figure '7 is a perspective view partly broke away of one of the door bolts or latches:

Figure 8 is a perspective view of one of the engaging members of the bolts. Figure 9 is a perspective view of a portion of the bottom frame of the door'showing the guides and roller seats for the door. 1 w I Figure 10 is a fragmentary perspective view of a'portion of the bottom of a'door showing th rack bars thereon. I

Figure 11 is an enlarged fragmentary vertical sectional view taken through the sliding door sec 4 Claims. (01.. 109-64) 'tion and frame and showing the door operating means. a

.. Figure -12 isa fragmentary perspective viewof 'theupper portion of the sliding door section, and

- Figure '13 is a .longitudinal sectional view of the structure shown in Figural-1.-

Referring tothe drawings -in-deta'il, inwhich "like reference'characters designate corresponding parts throughout the several views, the numeral 10 desi natestthe, vault *wal1,@which maybe. of concrete reinforced, Or other suitableconstruction of sufficient'strength customary in :devices of thischaracter. This 'wall is provided with the edges of. the door l5 including a slidablesection 16 to move into and out of a hollow-stationary wall section l'l cooperating with vaulti wallalll,

which sliding section: [6 is provided 1at:;0ne end with a dove-tailed formation including triangular portions or strips 18 formingv gibstapering orbeveled. inwardly toward the oppositesurfaces "of th door This end isdesigned to-engage within the inner end of hollow stationary section I! and the otherend engages-one end of thedoor opening I l and forms: stops .for this purpose.

The door section l6 comprises inner and outer plates 19 and 20.,and sliding section l6. may be provided witha fire-proof filler Zltherebetween, while the stationary hollowsection I! may be beveled on the inner side at the inner :end thereof, as indicated at 22 with a corresponding beveled formation at the end of thedoor section I]. The top and bottomedges of the doorsectiontlfi maybe reinforced-by a strip'23. preferably of "metal, having the spaced guides or:flanges"l4 or frame I2 thereof;as"-more-particularly'shown in Figure 5 of the'drawings; The door framel2 is made up of four sections connectedininterfitted relation at thecorners, and welded at'24,

thus permitting convenient assembly thereof.

This permits the frame and. door to'be prefabricated in the plant and installed in' the wall, which may be formed to receive the same or may be built around the frame-With the door sections at the front of the movable door section It.

in position. These joints may be of the tongue and groove type, in which certain of the sections are provided with tenons or reduced central extensions at the ends thereof, as indicated at to enter corresponding mortises or central grooves 26 in the ends of the connected sections, said parts being apertured transversely in alignment as indicated at 21 to connect the same by bolts or pins 28, thus facilitating the assembly of the frame and the mounting thereof in position. Of course, the opposite ends of the pins 28 may be headed in the manner of rivets, the construction being such that by upsetting the ends thereof, it is impossible to take the frame apart without cutting the rivets and therefore, access through the door opening at the frame is prevented.

The bottom frame member is provided in its top surface with the guide-ways or grooves I3 slidably engaged by said flanges l4 and centrally and longitudinally therebetween, with pockets or spaced transverse semi-circular recesses 29 designed to receive anti-friction rollers 30 on which the door section it is adapted to move easily and with the least amount of friction, so as to greatly facilitate the opening and closing thereof. In

addition, the flanges l4 on the bottom edge of the door section It, are provided with longitudinal series of rack teeth 3|, extending throughout the length of said movable door section and adapted to be engaged by gears or pinions 32 fixed to a horizontal drive shaft 33 mounted in a recess 34 in the floor 35 or the bottom frame member l2. This shaft extends into an opening 35 provided in the floor, in which is mounted a suitably controlled motor 37 preferably of the electric type, the rotor of which has the shaft 33 extending therefrom and may be suitably controlled at any desired point, or at the motor, to rotate said shaft and thereby correspondingly rotate the gears 32 to impart opening and closing or reciprocating movements to the movable door section. Thus, in addition to the door section It being supported on the rollers 30 for movement back and forth with the least amount of friction, it is operated by power from the motor, thereby eliminating manual operation of heavy doors such as used in bank vaults and the like.

In order to lock the slidable door section [6 in closed position, two oppositely extending bars 36 are provided, the same having reduced end portions 39 provided with rack gears 48 and guided up and down by mean-s of pins 4| entering slots 42 in the bars 38, said pins being mounted on the inner wall IS. The rack bars 49 engage a pinion 43 having a shaft 44 extending to the outside or front of the door, as indicated more palticularly in Figure 3 of th drawings and provided with a removable operating handle 45 for actuating the same. The bars 38 are of T-shaped formation and disposed in reversed position with the heads 46 thereof disposed near the top and bottom edges of the door. The ends of the heads 46 are slotted or bifurcated as indicat d at 4'! and have bolts 48 pivoted therein through the medium of reduced extensions 49, the furcations of the ends of the head 46 being apertured and likewise the ends 49, as shown at 50 and El, to pivotally connect the bolts 48 to the heads 46 as indicated at 52. The bolts are designed to enter recesses or keepers 53 in the top and bottom portions of the frame I2, and may be operated or held by a time mechanism operated by dials 54 y this means, only a person knowing the combina- 4 tion can actuate the release or the locking mechanism which bolts the door in closed position.

It will thus be seen that the door and frame can be cheaply manufactured in prefabricated form and that with the door sections when mounted as described the slidable section 5 will move easily, in addition to being capable of operation by power merely by switching on the operating or driving motor 31. In this way, all hinge construction as well as the pressure bar system usually employed in connection with heavy bank doors, is entirely dispensed with. The rollers form anti-friction means and take the place of hinges and the guides serve in connection with the pinions as a rack on the bottom section of the slidable door section It so that the door can be opened and closed easily by the motor. This will mean that a motor of very small capacity or horsepower may be used. Also, all joints may be welded for additional strength. Moreover, only two actuating bars for four bolts are necessary, whereas the old style hinge doors have from twenty to twenty-four bolts which must be mounted and which do not give any additional strength or safety to the doors. Besides, the hinged doors must swing outward, taking up valuable space, whereas the present slidable door will disappear in the frame and will need no extra room for its operation.

In view of the foregoing description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings it is believed that a clear understanding of the construction, operation and advantages of the device will be quite apparent to those skilled in this art. A more detailed description is accordingly deemed unnecessary.

It is to be understood, however, that even though there is herein shown and described a preferred embodiment of the invention the same is susceptible to certain changes fully comprehended by the spirit of the invention as herein 1 described and the scope of the appended claims.

What I claim is:

1. In a bank vault, a vault wall having an opening, a frame embedded in the vault wall around the opening and forming a door opening, said frame having guide-ways, a door having guides slidably engaged in said guide-ways, a hollow stationary wall section mounted in the frame, said sliding door section being movable into and out of said stationary wall section, and tapered gibs mounted on opposite sides of the door at its inner edge and engageable with the inner surfaces of the stationary wall section when the door is closed.

2. In a bank vault, a vault wall having an opening, a frame embedded in the vault wall around the opening and forming a door opening, said frame having guide-ways, a door having guides movably engaged in said guide-ways, said door comprising spaced plates and a fire-proof filling therebetween, strips along the top and bottom edges of the door having the guides formed thereon, and a stationary wall section mounted in the frame and forming a hollow space to receive the door therein when open.

3. In a bank vault, a wall having an opening therein and an inner extension extending halfway across the opening, a sectional frame around the opening, a stationary door section in the frame and opening spaced from the extension of the vault wall and forming a space therebetween having oppositely beveled inner faces at the inner ends thereof verticall of the opening forming a restricted passage, a movable door section having opposite tapered extensions engageable with said beveled portions and movable into the space between the wall and stationary section when open and adapted to be limited in the closing move ment by engagement of said tapered portions with the beveled portions of the wall and stationary section, and guiding means at the top and bottom of the frame and movable section interfittin between the movable section and frame.

4. In a bank vault, a wall having an opening therein and an inner extension extending halfway across the opening, a sectional frame around the opening, a, stationary door section in the frame and opening spaced from the extension of the vault wall and forming a space therebetween 15 having oppositely beveled inner faces at the inner ends thereof vertically of the opening forming a restricted passage, a movable door section having opposite tapered extensions engageable with said beveled portions and movable into the space 20 stationary section, guiding means at the 'top and bottom of the frame and movable section interfitting between the movable section and frame, rollers mounted at the bottom of the frame, said movable section being movable along said rollers, and means engaging the bottom of the movable section to open and close the same.

LOYAL M. MASSIE.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS 

